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A new study led by P.J. Devereux and an army of other researchers finds that nonprofit nursing homes provide better care than for-profits. Their meta-analysis of 82 individual studies of nonprofit vs. for-profit nursing homes found that nonprofit facilities delivered higher quality care than for-profit facilities for two of the four most frequently reported quality measures: (1) more or higher quality staffing and (2) less prevalence of pressure ulcers, sometimes called bedsores. The results also suggest better performance of nonprofit homes in two other quality measures: less frequent use of physical restraints and fewer noted deficiencies (quality violations) in governmental regulatory assessments. According to the meta-analysis, in 40 of the 82 studies, all statistically significant comparisons favored nonprofit facilities. In three studies, all significant comparisons favored for-profit facilities. The remaining studies had less consistent findings.

The authors opine that nonprofits provide better care because they do not have to provide an investor return or pay taxes, and thus can invest more money in patient care.